Battery operated device, a cloud application and the related methods for transmitting/receiving data messages over a low throughput network

Abstract

A battery operated device, comprising a low throughput network interface sending said data messages to a cloud application over a low throughput connection. An acknowledgement receiver receiving from said cloud application over said low throughput connection and interpreting an acknowledgment message containing acknowledgement information for one or more of said data messages. Wherein said device further comprises an acknowledgement request generator generating and sending a request over the low throughput network to said cloud application for said acknowledgement message.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A battery operated device for transmitting data messages, said device comprising:
 a low throughput network interface, adapted to send said data messages to a cloud application over a low throughput connection; 
 a message identity generator, adapted to generate an arbitrary message identity for each of said data messages; 
 an acknowledgement receiver, adapted to:
 receive over said low throughput connection an acknowledgment message generated by said cloud application and containing acknowledgement information for one or more of said data messages and wherein each location in said acknowledgement message corresponds to one of said message identities; and 
 interpret said acknowledgement messages; 
 
 
       wherein said battery operated device further comprises an acknowledgement request generator adapted to generate and send a request independent from said data messages over said low throughput connection to said cloud application for said acknowledgement message; 
       wherein said battery operated device further comprises a received message identity extracting engine, adapted to extract message identities from said acknowledgement message and to identify message identities of said data messages missing in said acknowledgment message; and 
       wherein said battery operated device further
 selectively re-transmits data messages whose message identity is missing in said acknowledgement message generated by said cloud application to guarantee data integrity of said data messages. 
 
     
     
       2. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein said acknowledgement receiver is further adapted to receive and interpret a single acknowledgement message containing acknowledgement information for a plurality of said data messages. 
     
     
       3. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein one of said data messages comprises said request. 
     
     
       4. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein said request is one of said data messages. 
     
     
       5. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 said message identity is a numerical value. 
 
     
     
       6. A battery operated device according to  claim 5 , wherein:
 said request comprises a message identity count value indicative for said message identities of said data messages sent by said battery operated device; and 
 said acknowledgement request generator is adapted to generate an acknowledgement message whose length in bits corresponds with the maximum message identity count value. 
 
     
     
       7. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein said device further comprises a device cache adapted to store said data messages, and wherein said device is further adapted to erase a data message for which receipt acknowledgement has been received. 
     
     
       8. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein said device further comprises:
 a device acknowledgement message generator, adapted to automatically generate a device acknowledgement message acknowledging receipt of said acknowledgement message and to send said device acknowledgement message to said cloud application. 
 
     
     
       9. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 said battery operated device is further adapted to generate a configuration request to said cloud application; 
 said cloud application is further adapted to generate a configuration message containing information indicative for configuration parameters and to send said configuration message to said battery operated device; 
 said battery operated device is further adapted to generate a configuration acknowledgement message containing acknowledgement information for said configuration message. 
 
     
     
       10. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein said data integrity is guaranteed by ensuring the data integrity at 100%. 
     
     
       11. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein said data integrity is guaranteed by ensuring the data integrity up to 100%. 
     
     
       12. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein the battery operated device does not need to re-transmit all said data messages multiple times. 
     
     
       13. A battery operated device according to  claim 1 , wherein said data integrity is guaranteed by guaranteeing the data integrity of the payload communicated between the battery operated device and the cloud application. 
     
     
       14. A method for transmitting data messages from a battery operated device, said method comprising the steps of:
 generating an arbitrary message identity for each of said data messages; 
 sending said data messages to a cloud application over a low throughput connection; 
 generating a request independent from said data messages for an acknowledgement message indicative for receipt of one or more of said data messages; 
 sending said request for said acknowledgement message to said cloud application over said low throughput connection; 
 receiving over said low throughput connection said acknowledgement message generated by said cloud application and containing acknowledgement information for one or more of said data messages, wherein each location in said acknowledgement message corresponds to one of said message identities; 
 extracting message identities from said acknowledgement message and to identify message identities of said data messages missing in said acknowledgment message; and 
 selectively re-transmitting data messages whose message identity is missing in said acknowledgement message to guarantee data integrity of said data. 
 
     
     
       15. A computing system comprising:
 one or more processors; and 
 one or more computer-readable mediums having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors configure the computing system to implement a cloud application for receiving data messages sent by a battery operated device over a low throughput connection; and 
 a low throughput network interface, adapted to receive said data messages from a battery operated device over a low throughput connection, wherein each of said data messages comprises an arbitrary message identity; 
 
       wherein said cloud application comprises an acknowledgement generator, adapted to generate and send an acknowledgment message containing acknowledgement information for one or more of said data messages over said low throughput network; wherein each location in said acknowledgement message corresponds to one of said message identities; 
       wherein said cloud application further comprises an acknowledgement request receiver adapted to receive a request independent from said data messages over said low throughput network for said acknowledgement message and wherein said acknowledgement generator is further adapted to generate said acknowledgement messages only upon receipt of said request; and 
       wherein said cloud application is further configured to
 receive again data messages which are selectively re-transmitted by said battery operated device when their message identities are missing in said acknowledgement message to guarantee data integrity of said data messages. 
 
     
     
       16. The computing system according to  claim 15 , wherein said acknowledgement generator is further adapted to generate a single acknowledgement message containing acknowledgement information for a plurality of said data messages. 
     
     
       17. The computing system according to  claim 15 , wherein said cloud application comprises:
 a message identity extractor adapted to extract a message identity from each received data message; 
 a request interpreter adapted to interpret said request and learn for which data message acknowledgement is requested; 
 
       and wherein said acknowledgement generator is further adapted to generate an acknowledgement message for data messages received. 
     
     
       18. The computing system according to  claim 15 , wherein said cloud application further comprises a device acknowledgement message receiver adapted to receive a device acknowledgement message generated by said battery operated device containing acknowledgement information for said acknowledgement message. 
     
     
       19. The computing system according to  claim 18 , wherein said cloud application is further adapted to:
 store a first message identity count value; 
 store a first acknowledgement message sent to said battery operated device corresponding to said first message identity count value; 
 upon reception of a second request from said battery operated device comprising a second message identity count value, send said first acknowledgement message back when said second message identity count value does not differ from said first message identity count value; and 
 upon reception of a second request from said battery operated device comprising a second message identity count value, extract said message identities of said data messages received and generate a second acknowledgement message when said second message identity count value differs from said first message identity count value.